Ramon Estacado
The gunslinger Ramon Estacado was an ancestor of Jackie Estacado and a wielder of the Darkness during the 1800's. An outlaw of the Southwestern United States, Ramon spent his life trafficking with roughnecks and dealing in illicit affairs of both the mundane and the supernatural. Biography Early Life Little was revealed of Ramon's past beyond that he was born the son of a prostitute after his father - an Estacado and Darkness wielder - died passing the curse on to him at the moment of conception. It wasn't shown if he was born legitimately or simply took his father's surname. His father, according to him, was a cruel man who beat and nearly strangled his mother to death before he was even born. Ramon's childhood is likewise ambiguous, although it was almost certainly a demoralizing and unprincipled experience; being the son of a whore and a womanizer. Dubiously, Ramon described himself as being kind in his childhood. If this is true, it would indicate either that he was good-natured as a boy and became troubled over time or that his mother or other parental figures put forth a genuine effort to raise him but ultimately failed. High Noon Some time later, Ramon formed his own gang with which he ravaged the West. At some point they stole an ancient artifact known as the Blood Pearl. Suspecting that it might be cursed, Ramon insisted the gang to keep the artifact and not sell it, and then leaves the gang. While ravaging a town, he's captured by the towns denizens and sentenced to be hanged. He manages to buy enough time until sun disappears. As the darkness comes, Ramon activates his powers, scaring the denizens away. The towns sheriff hits the horse on which Ramon sits causing him to get hanged. His powers protect him from death, but the sheriff orders Ramon to never set foot in the town again. Ramon then knocks the sheriff out and leaves him alive just because he needs to catch a train. The train in question, The Rocky Mountain Special is carrying a couple millions in federal dollars and gold. With a gang consisting of Darklings, Ramon attacks the train. After taking care off the guards, Ramon gets inside and fights a group of Pinkerton agents. Ramon kills all, but one agent and then asks the survivor if there're any more traps in the train. As he asks this question, the Pinkerton agent crawls to the trap and activates it, exploding the train. After Surviving the explosion, Ramon is confronted by his old gang led by his former friend Clem who have been turned into demons by the Blood Pearl. Clem and his former gang exact revenge on Ramon by beating him up, throw him into a ditch and then stealing all the gold. Clem with the gang then went to a local town and started to ravage it. In the morning, Ramon wakes up and tracks down his old gang to the same town, he was forced to leave by its sheriff. He finds the town ravaged and calls Clem out to fight, believing that his powers won't work in daylight. Unfortunately, Clem's powers do work in daylight and he proceeds to attack Ramon. Ramon then realises that it's the Blood Pearl that gives them this power. He snatches the pearl from Clem and breaks it, turning all his former crewmen back to humans. Ramon then kills Clem and offers the rest of the gang to join him as they go to continue ravaging the town with him. Personality As charismatic as he was conniving, Ramon was a hardened outlaw of the West; perpetually driven to steal and kill. Calloused and cruel, Ramon put himself first above any other; even casually burning down a whole town full of women and children with his gang just to relax himself. Ramon inherited many of his father's brutalities. Like him, he was a womanizer who blatantly misused women; even casually casting one aside who was only embracing him in gratitude for killing one of his former crewmen who had tried to rape her; only to rape and kill them himself. Powers & Abilities Powers * Darkness: Like all known members of his bloodline, Ramon was a vessel of the Darkness and the wielder of its power. As a lowly renegade, Ramon didn't prioritize actually learning how to harness his abilities to their fullest potential. This is reflected in his relatively common constructs. ** Mystical Leather Armor: Ramon's armor manifested differently than other wielders of the Darkness. Instead of the otherworldly metal of most vessels, Ramon's inner shadow emerged as a leather uniform complete with a Western-style hat, a duster, bladed gloves, a mask of fangs, and a pair of spurred boots. *** Enhanced Strength: Despite being leathery in texture, Ramon's armor nonetheless strengthened his body; sufficient enough that he could easily slaughter a small posse of lawmen as well as swiftly throw one of his demonically enhanced cohorts with enough force to incapacitate him for several seconds. *** Increased Durability: While seemingly not at resilient as other wielders of the Darkness, Ramon's leathery armor still afforded him a considerable degree of resistance to injury; sufficient enough that he was able to easily survive the trauma of being within ground zero of a large dynamite detonation. *** Shadowy Wingspan: When his armor manifested, the flaps of his drench-coat expanded into shadowy forms akin to a pair of batlike or wings with tendrils. This may have been simply a representation of his inner shadow as he was never seen to use them to fly; possibly because he didn't think to do so. ** Darkling Conjuration: Ramon could summon forth Darklings from the otherworldly abyss of the Darkness and control them through telepathic communication; able to see and hear through their eyes and command them subconsciously. He seemed only experienced enough to create the basic the imp-like Darklings. ** Mystical Enhancement: Ramon was able to channel a portion of his Darkness powers into his horse; transforming it into a fully armored nightmare steed sporting fiery breath and burning eyes. The saddle was also outfitted with twin Gatling guns on each side; each one manned by an impish Darkling gunman. Abilities * Marksmanship: A thief by trade, Ramon was an experienced gunslinger. He was particularly adept at using two handheld pistols. When the Darkness manifested within him, his ammunition would appear on twin belts strapped around his chest. His precision was sharp enough that he survived gunfights. * Horsemanship: Ramon showed clear proficiency as a horse-rider. Growing up in the western states, Ramon was raised amidst desert roads and travels by carriage or caravans. As an outlaw later in his young manhood, he gained further experience performing as a gunslinger while riding on horseback. * Manipulation: As a natural confidence man, Ramon was skilled in swindling people out of their valuables through sheer guile. Like his fighting skills, he undoubtedly learned these underhanded qualities by observing others as a young boy and practicing them for himself after becoming an outlaw. * Unarmed Fighting: Having lived a hard life as both a lowborn and a crook, Ramon quickly became an experienced brawler in order to defend himself; having been around women beaters and rounders for presumably the whole of his life. Strengthened further by the Darkness, Ramon became inhumanly brutal. Weaknesses * Strong Light: Like all Darkness wielders, powerfully strong light would render Ramon's abilities all-but-impotent as well as vanquish his creations and armor. In the 1800's, this would have included large pyres and strong sunlight as no other powerful sources of illumination had been made yet. * Conception: Like all wielders of the Darkness, Ramon's abilities were linked to his paternity; if he had passed the curse onto his child through conception, he would have died within a few hours. This inevitably happened as he conceived a son to carry on both the power and the Estacado name. * Precise Trauma: Because of the hat he wore while in his armored form, the back of Ramon's head and neck were vulnerable to blunt trauma. This was shown when one of his former crewman - albeit enhanced by demonic possession - was able to knock him unconscious with a punch to the back of the head. Trivia * The robber's mask which Ramon wears to cover his face while in his empowered form bears a strong resemblance to the villainous Marvel antihero Venom; including possessing two rows of shark-like fangs and a prehensile tongue. His tendrils also share similarities with the symbiote. Gallery Highnoon1.jpg|Ramon sentenced to be hanged. Highnoon2.jpg|Ramon escaping. Highnoon4.jpg|Ramon transforming his horse. Highnoon3.jpg|Ramon's Darklings. Highnoon5.jpg|Ramon's whip. Highnoon11.jpg|Ramon overwhelmed by his former gang. Highnoon16.jpg|Ramon laying in a ditch. Highnoon15.jpg|Ramon killing Clem. Category:Comics Characters Category:Comic Males Category:Darkness Host Category:Human Category:Supernatural Category:Criminals Category:Comic Deceased